According to Christopher Burch, every decade has its own technological symbols or accessories. The 70s saw the birth of the double cassette player, the 80s brought the carry-on boom box, the 90s saw the intimate personal Walkman, and the new century brought the iPod. When technology becomes fashionable, it becomes trendy to wear that technology as an accessory. But there are designers on both sides of the aisle who are actively changing the world.

Recent years have seen some interesting marriages between technology and fashion. Anouk Wipprecht, the Dutch avant-garde designer, has created dresses to combine fashion and engineering. Her DareDroid dresses make drinks, and her Pseudomorph dresses are painting canvases that change with time. Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin created an inflatable bike helmet that looks like a scarf and detonates on impact to become an air helmet. It is a wearable technology that can save lives. Kevin Cannon and Ashwin Rajan has created the Frontline Gloves for firefighters that allow wireless hand gesture communications in hazardous low visibility and high noise situations. Recycling is another trend in fashion technology. SegraSegra used recycled bicycle tubes to make stylish clothing. Emma Whiteside made a gown out of recycled radiator copper. Tech-wearables can be good for the environment. Soledad Martin’s kinetic energy converting shoes can charge accessories like watches and cell phones.

Just like technology experts have stepped up to create wearable fashion, fashion designers have stepped up to make tech-wearables more trendy. Google Glass came with the stigma of wearing glasses. American fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg tried to help out with the situation. Her models wore them on the catwalk like any fashion accessory. A gesture like this can help the latest wearable technology gain wider acceptance. With more cooperation between the world of technology and fashion, functional tech-wearables can create an aesthetically-pleasing safer world in the future.

ED by Ellen DeGeneres Online Store, Cocoon9, Poppin, and Niwiwatu are some brands managed under Burch Creative Capital. Christopher has also worked on Voss Water, Jawbone, Faena Hotel + Water. At the moment, Christopher’s company is working on lifestyle and consumer products. BaubleBar, Blink Health, Brad’s Raw Foods, Chubbies, Little Duck Organics, and Soludos are some of the recent brands.